A Love for a Love
by BookAddiction24
Summary: I see the shock on his face as I saw the shock on Ilea's. He kisses me on the lips and walks to the stage. This is definitely not how it was supposed to go. It was supposed to be me. Why does he have to die?
1. Two Beads and a Heart

My name is Arianna Lenton. I am dreading today. Today is the day that I'll get picked to die. I'm sure of it.

Today is, of course, the reaping. I can't stand the thought of it. I am eighteen years old and got five tesserae. I live in District 11 and am very poor. I'm getting picked today.

I get up and make a sandwich. It's not a very good breakfast, but it's all I can have. My mom died giving birth to my thirteen-year-old sister and my dad died when I was fourteen. Now it's just me and me sister, Talia. We have an uncle who visits us a lot so that we wouldn't get adopted.

I have to take care of both of us, but I'm getting picked for the Hunger Games, she'll have to take care of herself soon. The thing that I'm dreading most is that she'll have to get tesserae after I die. I won't be there to get us tesserae, so she'll have to get her own.

"Arianna, I'll miss you," Talia says as she joins me in the kitchen.

"You'll be okay," I say. We're not being like one of those families that pretend that they won't be picked or that they could actually win. We're open about things and admit that I'll be done by the bloodbath for sure.

"Here," I say, handing her half of my sandwich. "I'm going to go get ready." She nods and starts eating.

I walk back to my room and put on a black dress. It has spaghetti straps, so I put a light blue jacket over it. I pick a pair of light blue flats. They were my mom's shoes. I put my long, wavy, dark brown hair in a ponytail and curl it.

I step back so that I can see myself in the mirror. I look like my mom. I am very tan, but my mom and dad moved from the capitol because they hated it, so my skin is still considered white. I have one blue eye and one green eye. One time I asked my mom why they were different colors. She said that I got genes from her and my dad.

"Why did they have to move to District 11?" I ask myself out loud. "Why not a richer District? Where mom wouldn't have died giving birth to Talia, then we would still have the money she made. Why not one where we could have money and I wouldn't have to get as many tesserae?"

"Are you ready?" Talia asks. I look at her in the mirror. She has a pink shirt and blue skirt, pink heals, and her hair is straightened. She has light brown hair and green eyes.

"Almost," I say.

"What do you need?" she asks.

"My token," I say. My token is a string necklace. My boyfriend gave it to me when it became time to worry about the reaping. It has a blue and pink bead. Between the two is a heart bead. It could look normal on a guy or a girl.

We latch arms and walk out the door with our heads held high. When we get to there we hug goodbye and go to the areas for our ages.

"Arianna?" I turn around and see Rollen, my boyfriend.

"Hey, Rollen," I say. I hug him and give him a kiss on the lips.

"Are you worried?" he asks.

"Does it count as being worried if you're positive that something is going to happen?" I ask.

"You won't get picked," he says. I nod.

"Sure," I say, sarcastically. The mayor tells the story that he tells every year, then Melinda Surlin, District 11's escort goes to draw the names.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor," she says. "Ladies first!" She puts her hand into the bowl and grabs a piece of paper. I inhale as she clears her throat and says very loudly, "Ilea Goody." I exhale. _I didn't get picked! I can live! I'll never have to go in the Hunger Games! _Ieah walks to the stage and stands there. I can see the shock on her face.

"Now for the boys," she says. I look at Rollen. He kisses me on the cheek. "Rollen Lifetree." No. That can't be right. There's been a mistake! I'm sorry! Redo that! Please!

I see the shock on his face as I saw the shock on Ilea's. He kisses me on the lips and walks to the stage. This is definitely not how it was supposed to go. It was supposed to be me. Why does he have to die?

I don't hear a thing because of all my thoughts. They shake hands and are taken into the building. I run to the door to say goodbye to him. I see his family, his friends, and people for Ilea. His family gets to go first. I let his friends go next.

When I go inside the room the first thing I do is kiss him. Then we stop and talk.

"Do you have a token?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"My family thought you would give me something better than what they had," he explains.

"Take this," I say, taking of the necklace.

"The necklace I made you?" he asks. I nod.

"It can help remind you of me. The pink bead is me. The blue bead is you. The heart is the love that we have for each other," I say.

"You have quite some memory," he says. That was what he said when he gave me the necklace. I help him put it on and he looks me in the eyes. "I love you." Wow. He's never said that before.

"I love you too," I say. We kiss again, but this kiss is different. This feels like a goodbye kiss. That made me feel so horrible. "You aren't going to die. You're eighteen years old and you can crush the other people like bugs. I know that sounds mean, but it's true. Go out there and win. Win for yourself. Win for your family and friends. Win for District 11. Win for me." He kisses me again, and this kiss feels like an _I love you_ kiss.

"I'll try," he says. The peacekeepers come and say that our time is up. I kiss him goodbye, danget, and leave.

That night I have a dream about Rollen, me, and the Games. I got drawn and he didn't. When I woke up to use the restroom, I was happy.


	2. Marrie

I wake up in the morning and go to get some milk. When I get to the kitchen I realize that my necklace isn't on anymore, and I remember the horror that occurred yesterday.

He's in the capitol by now. To think that I'm this terrified, imagine how scared he is. My Rollen is entering the Hunger Games. My Rollen is going to die. I'll never see my Rollen in person again. Or, maybe he'll be okay. Yeah, he'll probably live and come home and we can be happy.

I hear footsteps and look into the hall and see Talia coming. I hand her my cup of milk and pour myself another one. She looks at me like she's worried.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Are you okay?" she asks me.

I nod. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She just shakes her head. "What?"

"You're in denial," she explains.

"No, I'm not," I argue.

"Yes, you are. You don't want to admit to anyone that Rollen is going into the Hunger Games. You don't want to admit that he'll probably die," she continues.

I shake my head, "He won't die. He won't die," I say.

"He probably will. You need to admit it. It will make it easier when he does," she says.

"But he won't die."

"Stop it! You can't keep thinking this. When he does die you'll be a thousand times more disappointed. But, if you think that he will die, and then he doesn't you'll be a thousand times happier." I nod and wipe away the tears that streamed down my face while she was talking.

"I just don't want him to die," I whisper. She nods and hugs me.

"I know. But you can't let yourself down. You have to be strong. You have to get past this," she urges me.

"I'll try, but, he said something yesterday," I begin.

"What did he say?" she asks.

"He said that he- he said that he loved me," I tell her, and break down crying. "And I said it back."

"Oh no," she says. "It's okay."

"And I gave him my token," I go on.

"That's good. He'll have something to remember you by. That'll help him go on," she comforts me.

I laugh. "It's kind of funny. You're my younger sister, but you're acting like my older sister."

She nods and laughs. "I guess so." She looks me in the eyes. "He really said that?" I nod, trying not to burst into tears again.

"I have no idea why, though. It just made this a thousand times worse!" I yell. "I really did love him."

"I know. I know," she whispers, hugging me. I love Talia. She's so caring and compassionate. I'm so happy I didn't loose her. "At least you're done with the reaping."

I chuckle and she lets go of me. "Yeah, I guess so."

I finish my milk and put the cup in the sink. I put on brown pants and a brown tank top. I have to go to work.

_*TIME PASSAGE*_

"Marrie, pass the basket!" I yell. Marrie, my best friend, hands me a basket. I place the bundle of grapes I just picked inside of it and pass it back down to her.

"You found grapes?" she asks in shock. "I can never find grapes!"

"That's because you don't climb high enough!" I yell down. She's a branch below me.

"You climb like a spider monkey!" she calls back up. "I'm not as flexible as you!" I laugh and meander down to her branch.

"You just have to practice a lot," I explain, happy that I don't have to yell now that I'm right next to her. "They're on that vine." I point to a vine wrapped around the branch I was just on.

"Well, can you go get some more? We'll look even better," Marrie says, laughing. I nod and climb back up and get three more big bundles. I climb down and put them in the basket. "Thanks."

"No problem. I think it's time for our break," I say. Then I whisper, "Want me to get us some grapes?" She laughs quietly and nods.

I climb back up and get a small bundle. I climb down and put them in the basket. We slowly eat some, making sure no one was around. If they saw us eating any of the gatherings, we'd be in big trouble.

We talk about her family and Talia. She tells me about the peach she stole the other day. Finally, she notices my necklace is missing.

"Oh, that," I trail off. "It's nothing."

Then she remembers. "Oh yeah! I'm so sorry!" she hugs me. "How are you?"

"I'm staying strong," I say. "I got a major pep talk from Talia." If you would call her negativity a pep talk. "That helped."

"How long do you think he'll make it?" she asks carefully, as if trying not to set off a bomb.

"I honestly have no idea," I admit. "He is eighteen. And he's really strong. He's fast and smart, but I don't think he'll make it." I sigh, she does too.

"You never know," she whispers. "He could pull through."

"You said _could_," I say, not even bothering to fake a smile. "That's just a maybe."

"Just don't be completely sure that he'll die."

We sit there in silence while we finish the grapes.

She picks the last one off the bundle. She puts it between her forefinger and her thumb. I'm amazed at how beautiful her skin is. The dark chocolate color, sometimes I'm jealous. She has her culture. I have my… well… capitolness.

She pinches the grape and it breaks open. She lets go, and it falls to the ground below. By the time it lands on the ground, we can't even see it. I see her jaw tense.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Why didn't I get picked?" she whispers. "I just feel so bad. So many other people die because of this, and I never got picked."

"Well, I never got picked either. It's not something you need to feel guilty about."

"I know," she says, nodding. "It's something to be mad about. All those people died!" She's practically yelling now. "Because of the stupid Capitol!" That time, she was yelling.

Suddenly, a voice comes from the ground below us. "Who was that?" A peacekeeper. "Come down now!"

Marrie and I climb down the tree. We see three big peackeepers. They look angry. Of course they do, Marrie just bad-talked the capitol.

"Which one of you just said that?" one of them asks. Both of our eyes widen as we realize what's about to happen. "Answer my question or both of you will be punished!"

Marrie starts to say her name, but I can't let her.

"Me," I say. "I said it." That's when one of the peacekeepers reaches for his pocket.


End file.
